Wall for railway cars



March 23, 1937.

w. J. TANGERMAN 2,074,439

WALL FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed March 13, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 BMW ML March 23, 1937. w. J. TANGERMAN WALL FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed March 15, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 vii :Illlll Ill! 1!!!! Fall nltiillolivl:

March 23, 1937. w. J. TANGERMAN 2,074,439

WALL FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed March 13, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Mar. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE to Union Metal Products Company,

Chicago,

Ill., a corporation of Delaware 7 Application March 13, 1935, Serial No. 10,865

12 Claims.

The invention relates to railway freight cars and more particularly to side and end walls for open top railway cars, such as hopper and gondola cars, though the construction is adaptable for walls of house cars, such as box, automobile and refrigerator cars. The construction is also adaptable for use as roofs, floors, hopper doors and side doors for railway cars. A roof or a floor comes within the meaning of the term wal as used in the specification and claims herein.

Railway freight cars are generally designed so that the side walls are girders 0r trusses to carry part of the weight of the lading and the car itself to the body bolsters which transmit such load to the trucks. Such side walls also retain the load in the car. It is desirable to make the inside horizontal width of the car as wide as possible to increase the cubical capacity of the car but the outside width of the car. is

0 limited by tunnels and projections adjacent the track so it becomes imperative to make the side wall as thin horizontally as possible consistent with strength requirements.

Open top railway cars are frequently built with the vertical walls comprising spaced apart upper and lower frame members connected at spaced intervals by vertical posts with panels filling the spaces between the posts and frame members, which construction forms a girder and retaining wall. It has been proposed to bulge the central parts of these panels outwardly to increase the cubical capacity of the car, such as shown in the Hart Patent No; 1,623,591 of April 5, 1927.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a wall panel for a 'railway car which provides the maximum inside width of the car consistent with given outside width limitations, which panel is easily made, easily assembled upon the car and which is very light in weight for its strength.

Another object obtained by this construction,

is a flush car wall surface with no projections to oifer wind resistance.

Another object obtained in this construction is a flush wall wherein the diagonal stresses developed in service are transmitted in an uninterrupted plane from sill to plate and vice versa, for without tying the panels together diagonal stresses are apt to buckle the panels.

Another object obtained is a reinforced box like seam in which the legs of the stake reinforce the seam transversely and longitudinally.

Another object obtained is a water and weather-tight seam construction that prevents the accumulation of snow and ice.

Another advantage of this construction is the possibility of using this design for new cars in competition with the flush side inside stake design now in common use.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a partial elevation of a railway car incorporating my improvement.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows a partial elevation of a railway car incorporating a modified construction of my improvement.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section through the post and adjacent wall sheets.

F1Fig}. 8 is an enlarged section on line 88 of g. Fig. 9 shows a partial plan of a roof for a railway car incorporating my invention.

Fig. 10 is a section on line iii-Ill of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a section on line il-l| of Fig. 9.

Each wall sheet has horizontally (2) and vertically (3) extending marginal parts and a central portion 4 in a spaced plane from the marginal parts and connected thereto by a preferably sloping web 5. The central portion 4 being spaced outwardly from the interior of the car relative to the marginal parts 23 so as to increase the cubical capacity of the car. The

vertically extending side marginal parts 3 of adjacent wall sheets are preferably secured together by welding I, as shown, or they may be overlapped and riveted. The stakes or beams 9 are preferably of T cross section comprising a base Ill and a stem ii. The stakes or beams 9 extend between and are secured to the upper (l3) and lower (l4) chords, respectively, to form a column therebetween and also to form a restrained beam to resist horizontal thrusts imposed thereon by the lading in the car. The base I0 is preferably secured to the central portions 4-4 of adjacent wall sheets, as shown in Figs. 4 to 8 inclusive at l5. Such a construction forms a very strong column and a very strong beam.

The vertically extending marginal parts 3 of adjacent wall sheets may abut each other and the end of the stem ll of the stake or beam 9 positioned adjacent thereto so that welding material I may be applied to secure all these elements together at the same time.

The base iii of the stake 9 and the central portions 4 of the wall plates are preferably flush with each other so as to provide a smooth exterior wall surface of the car. (See Fig. 5.)

'The marginal portions 33 ofthe adjacent wall sheets in combination with thebase l and 5 stem ll of the stake 9 form an I-beam section which is very strong both as a column and a beam. This I-beam section extends uninterruptedly between the top (l3) and bottom (l4) chords of the wall of the car. In other words,

10 the wall sheets and stakes cooperate to form the stifieners for the girder".

The closure members 30 are provided to close the opening between the base I 0 of the stake, the central portion 4, oblique web 5 and horizontally disposed marginal part 2 of the wall sheets, (see Fig. 8) so as to provide a water and weather-tight seam construction and prevent the accumulation of snow and ice behind the stake, which snow and ice would accelerate corrosion.

This closure member comprises a metallic plate preferably welded to these respective elements.

The closure member 32 is preferably diagonally disposed, as shown in Fig. 4, to reduce the wind resistance of the car when in motion.

Figs. 9, l0 and 11 show the construction modified to form a roof of a railway car, wherein the roof sheets 40 are each provided with side and end marginal parts 4| and an offset central portion 42 and a T-section stifiener or beam 44 with the stem 45 thereof preferably secured to the roof sheet margins 4| by the same welding means 41 which secures the adjacent roof sheets together. These T-section stifieners or beams 44 extend to adjacent the opposite side plates 48 of the car. Supports 49 position the running boards 50 above and spaced from such central portions 42 of the roof sheets, as shown in Fig. 11. The top chord l3 and the bottom chord l4 or the spaced apart side plates 48 are spaced apart frame members in the meaning of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and de- 5 scribed, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A wall for a railway car comprising an upper chord, a lower chord, wall sheets, each of said sheets having horizontally and vertically extending marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said marginal parts so as to in crease the cubical capacity of the car, the verti- 55 cally extending marginal parts of adjacent sheets being secured together with the horizontally extending part secured to one of said chords and a T-section stake provided with a base and a stem with the extremities of said base being 60 secured to said upper and lower chords, respectively, said stem being secured to the marginal part of one of said wall sheets.

2. A wall for a railway car comprising an upper chord, a lower chord, wall sheets, each of said 65 sheets having horizontally and vertically extending marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said marginal parts so as to increase the cubical capacity of the car, the vertically extending marginal parts of adjacent sheets 70 being secured together with the horizontally extending part secured to one of said chords and a T-section stake provided with a base and a stem, said base being secured to the central portions of adjacent sheets with the extremities of 7 said base being secured to said upper and lower chords, respectively, said stem being secured to the marginal part of one of said wall sheets.

3. A wall for a railway car comprising an upper chord, a lower chord, wall sheets, each of said sheets having horizontally and vertically extending marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said marginal parts so as to increase the cubical capacity of the car, the vertically extending marginal parts of adjacent sheets abutting each other and welded together with the horizontally extending part secured to one of said chords and a T-section stake provided with a base and a stem, said base being secured to the central portions of adjacent sheets with the extremities of said base being secured to said upper and lower chords, respectively, said stem being secured to the marginal portions of said wall sheets at the point of abutment thereof.

4. A wall for a railway car comprising an upper chord, a lower chord, wall sheets, each of said sheets having horizontally and vertically extending marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said marginal parts so as to increase the cubical capacity of the car, the vertically extending marginal parts of adjacent sheets being secured together with the horizontally extending part secured to one of said chords and a T-section stake provided with a base and a stem, said base being secured to the central portions of adjacent sheets with the extremities of said base I being secured to said upper and lower chords, respectively, said stem being secured to the marginal part of one of said wall sheets, said base and said central portions of the wall sheets being substantially flush with each other whereby a 5 smooth exterior wall surface is provided.

5. A wall for a railway car comprising an upper chord, a lower chord, wall sheets, each of said sheets having .horizontally and vertically extending marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said marginal parts so as to increase the cubical capacity of the car, the vertically extending marginal parts of adjacent sheets being secured together with the horizontally extending part secured to one of said chords and a T-section stake extending between and secured to said chords and provided with a base and a stem, said base being secured to the central portions of adjacent sheets, said stem being secured to the marginal part of one of said wall sheets.

6. A wall for a railway car comprising an upper chord, a lower chord, wall sheets, each of said sheets having horizontally and vertically extending marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said marginal parts so as to increase the cubical capacity of the car, the vertically extending marginal parts of adjacent sheets being secured together with the horizontally extending part secured to one of said chords and a T-section stake extending between and secured to said chords and provided with a base and a stem, said base being secured to the central portions of adjacent sheets, said stem being secured to the marginal part of one of said wall sheets, and a closure member closing the opening between the base of the stake, central portion of a wall sheet and the marginal part of a wall sheet.

7. A wall for a railway car comprising an upper chord, a lower chord, wall sheets, each of said sheets having horizontally and vertically extending marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said marginal parts so as to increase the cubical capacity of the car, the

vertically extending marginal parts of adjacent sheets being secured together with the horizontally extending part secured to one of said chords and a T-section stake extending between and secured to said chords and provided with a base and a stem, said base being secured to the central portions of adjacent sheets, said stem being secured to the marginal part of one of said wall sheets, and a closure member closing the opening between the base of the stake, central portion of a wall sheet and the marginal part of a wall sheet, said member comprising a metallic plate with its edges secured to said base, central portion and marginal part respectively.

8. A wall for a railway car comprising an upper chord, a lower chord, wall sheets, each of said sheets having horizontally and vertically extending marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said marginal parts so as to increase the cubical capacity of the car, the vertically extending marginal parts of adjacent sheets being secured together with the horizontally extending part secured to one of said chords and a T-section stake extending between and secured a to said chords and provided with a base and a stem, said base being secured to the central portions of adjacent sheets, said stem being secured to the marginal part of one of said wall sheets, and a closure member closing the opening between the base of the stake, central portion of a wall sheet and the marginal part of a wall sheet, said member comprising a metallic plate with its edges secured to said base, central portion and marginal part, respectively, said plate being diagonally disposed to reduce the wind resistance of the car when in motion. I

9. A wall for a railway car comprising spaced apart frame members, a T-section beam connecting said frame members comprising a base 40 and a stem and wall sheets, each of said sheets having side and end marginal parts and a cen- Hal portion spaced outwardly from said parts, said side marginal parts being secured to the stem of said beam with the end marginal part being secured to one of said members, said base of the beam and said central parts of the wall sheets being substantially flush with each other whereby a smooth exterior wall surface is provided.

10. A wall for a railway car comprising spaced apart frame members, a T section beam connecting said frame members comprising a base and a stem and wall sheets, each of said sheets having side and end marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said parts with the end marginal part being secured to one of said members, said stem being secured to the adjacent side marginal parts of said sheets at the point of abutment thereof.

11. A wall for a railway car comprising spaced apart frame members, a T section beam connecting said frame members comprising a base and a stem and wall sheets, each of said sheets having side and end marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said parts with the end marginal part being secured to one of said members, said stem being secured to the adjacent side marginal parts of said sheets at the point of abutment thereof, said base of the beam and said central parts of the wall sheets being substantially flush with each other whereby a smooth exterior wall surface is provided.

12. A wall for a railway car comprising spaced apart members spaced apart T section beams connecting said frame members, each comprising a base and a stem and wall sheets, each of said sheets having side and end marginal parts and a central portion spaced outwardly from said parts with the end marginal parts being secured to said frame members, said stem being secured to the adjacent side marginal parts of said sheets at the point of abutment thereof.

' WILLIAM J. TANGERMAN. 

